I went to a London grammar school and it was an unspoken given I was going to university. I wanted to, I think. Why wouldn’t I, 99% of the school did. Surely it was the best thing for future career? But what career? It scared me that I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do in life.
I love walking the Cornwall coastal path. It is so beautiful and one of the hidden advantages is that it is very hard to get lost. You can just enjoy the walk and scenery without having to stop and work out where you need to go next. Wouldn’t it be great if life were that easy.
I believe the secret to failure is not knowing where you are going, where you are aimed for. How can you succeed if you don’t know which direction to go in? Sometimes it can help to have a guide, not to tell you where to go but to guide you in understanding yourself where you want to go. This where a life coach can come in.
“If you don’t know where you are going you will end up some other place”. Yogi Berry
I remember having to make a decisions about what A levels to take. I had to choose what I wanted to do at university and then choose the A levels that would best support that decision. That meant knowing what I wanted to do with my life…which I didn’t. I wish I had seen a life coach then, all we had was a computer program provided by the London Borough with a careers questionnaire that old me I was suited to be a wig maker…
It wasn’t until I was 34 I decided I was in a career that I didn’t love. I was not passionate about it. My career had ‘evolved’, it wasn’t really by design. I hadn’t sat down and felt what I would love to do and gone after it. I was in a well paid job and doing well. But not satisfied. So I saw a life coach and begun my journey in discovering who I was.
I learnt I was creative. Ha! I had spent all my life thinking I wasn’t creative. I was a scientist, a logical thinker, an engineer not a creative person. Somehow I believed you couldn’t be both. Perhaps I was told some time ago I wasn’t creative, and that belief has stuck. Who knows but I began enjoying me new found creativity!
Life coaching was the discovery of me, my passions and what I wanted to do with my life. I got out business/corporate life and just love helping other reach their full potential through Cognitive Hypnotherapy and life coaching – which I do at my London and Cornwall practices.
To get you started on finding your direction you might find these questions helpful, I know I did.
- Describe what you want, not what you don’t want. For me I found this quite difficult. For example one exercise I did was to describe my perfect job, everything down to journey, environment, hours, tasks etc. I actually found it easier to start with my worst job ever I could imagine. Once I had done that I found it easier to describe what I did want. Which ever way you do it, get to a place where you are describing what you DO want.
- What would you love to do if you knew you wouldn’t fail? Often the fear or failure prevents us from imagining and daydreaming about what we really want. If that fear didn’t exist, if you knew you couldn’t fail what you love to do, daydream for a while.
- If you wake up and a miracle had taken place during the night how would your life be? How would you know a miracle had taken place?
- What are you passionate about? What are your hobbies?
- What were you doing as a child when your mum called your for tea for the 3rd time?
I also started using the mantra ‘follow your bliss’ and just did more and more things I enjoyed doing whether running, using my new-found creativity in designing a website.
Enjoy your journey and if you want a guide then contact me and I can help you at my London or Cornwall practices. My Project You life coaching may be just want you are looking for. The beauty of it is that being a Cognitive Hypnotherapist is that we will have the tools to let go of any negative beliefs, lack of confidence or anything holding you back from being the best you can be. Is it time for you to turn your ambition to achievement?
